Window blind guide



July 8, 1952 1.. NELSON WINDOW BLIND GUIDE Filed Oct. 2, 1950 INVENTOR.

Z ee W919 0/7 Patented July 8, 1952 WINDOW BLIND GUIDE Lee Nelson,Manhattan Beach, Calif., assignor of one-half to Henry J. Bagliazo, SanPedro, Califi.

Application October 2, 1950, Serial No. 138,030;

- 1 f4 Claims. (01. 1e02cs) This invention i concerned with a windowblind guide and is'useful in connection with roller type Windowblinds orshades, it being a general object of the invention to provide aconstruction that is simple and practical for the purpose of 5 theroller, and they are'spaced apart so that the facilitating the properguiding of a web or blind blind operates between them. Each guide inontoits supporting roll. v volves a shoe with a guiding face, preferablycon- Windows such as occur in wall of homes or vex in form, which faceis engaged-by anedge of buildings are commonly equipped with shades orthe blind. Lips project from the sides of the shoe blinds, and the usualdevice of this character is of and are vertically disposed and spacedapart so the roller type and is mounted on or carried by the case of thewindow at the top or upper portion thereof. The usual blind involves aroller supported by brackets and the blind proper is in the nature of aflexible sheet or web, usually a fabric suitably treated or coated. Thelower or depending edge of the usual blind is reinforced with astiffening member and a cord or pull depends from the lower end of theweb to facilitate operation thereof. Considerable care and skill isrequired to operate a web of the character mentioned accurately withreference to the roll, and whencare and skill are not exercised, as isusually the case, the web winds onto the roll so as to cause an edge ofthe web to rub at an end of the roll and consequently become damaged orchafed.

In practice the usual blind of the character referred to after beingused but a short time has both edges more or less damaged, and thusrendered unsightly. r 7

It is a general object of this invention to provide a guide or guidingconstruction which serves to so guide the web or blind proper onto itssupporting roll as to eliminate the usual damaging of the web, eventhough it is operated casually and without the exercise of great skillor care.

Another object of this invention is to provide a combination of partswherein a, blind is related .to guides which occur on a common frame orcase and which are spaced from the supporting roll of the blind so thatthe blind is accurately guided with reference to the roll whenever it isoperated.

Another object of this invention is to provide a simple unitary blindguide applicable to a window frame or case at a suitabl point below ablind carried by that case and which serves to guide an edge of theblind and confine it, to the end that the blind can be operatedrepeatedly without damage or injury.

In the structure provided by the invention a window frame has verticalparts or sides and a header between the upper ends of the sides. A blindof the roller type is mounted on the upper portion of the frame, forinstance, adjacent the header. The roller of the blind is mounted bymeans of suitable brackets and the web or blind proper is carried on theroller and depends therefrom to extend between the sides'of the case.:'A pair of guides isprovided on the'case, preferably the sides of thecase, a suitable distance below that an edge portion of theblind isreceived and held between themfmaintainin'g the edgeo'f the blind inproper relation to the guide'shoe, A mounting flange or base plate isprovided on or in connection with the shoe'andis applicable to thewindow case as by means of suitablefasteners or serewsf The variousobjectsand features of my invention will be fully understood from thefollowing detailed description of -typical preferred forms andapplications of :the invention, throughout which description referenceis made to the"accompanying' drawings, in which: v

Fig. 1 is a view showing a wall'having' a window therein and showing ablind'on thewindow case and blind guides related to th blind to maintainthe web or blind portion thereof properly related to the roller thereof.Figs-2 is an enlarged broken detailed sectional View taken in thedirection indicated by line 2-2 on Fig.1. Fig. 3' is a view taken asindicated by line'3-3on Fig; 2;' Fig. 4 is a view taken as indicated byline 44 onFig. 3. Figs. 5, 6 and 7 are views illustrating a'somewhatdifferentform of the invention, wherein the blind is mounted within thecase of the window' rather than on the exterior of it. Fig. 5illustrates one corner of the case, showing the'mounting of the blindand the :reiationship of the guide thereto.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged plan view taken as' indicated by line 66 on Fig.5, andFig. 7 is an enlarged side elevation of the guide shown in Figs. 5and 6. In the drawings I have illustrated a Wall W with a window'openingtherein providedwith the usual case' A. A roller type shade or blind"Bis carried by the case A and guides Care carried by the case and arecooperatively related with the web or iblind 'p'r'oper of element B. Thewindow case A beingof typical or conventional construction has a lowerelement or sill I0, vertical elements or sides H and a transverse top orheader l2 between the upper-ends of-=the sides [I ii Referring to theform of theinvention; illustrated in Figs. 1 to '4, inclusive, thebl-ind'B is mounted on the exterior of" the case A and is shown asinvolving a roll 20 carriedfby suitable mounting brackets 2| applied'to' the exterior of as to extend completely across the window openingso that its edges the case.

The present invention provides a pair of guides, one on each side ll ofthe case, and the guides are like opposed elements spaced 2. shortdistance, for instance a few inches, below the roll 20, and spaced aparta distance about equal to the width of the blind 22.

Each guide C preferably involves a shoe 30 opposing an edge 26 of theblind 22 and having a guiding face 3! that extends in the generaldirection of the guided edge 26. The face 3| is preferably convex inform and it 'may be pitched so that its upper end is close to or inguiding contact with the edge 26, while its lower end isspaced somewhataway'from the edge 26.

Ears 33 project from the vertical edges of the shoe 30 and extend towardthe blind 22 to overlap the edge portions thereof. The ears 33 arespaced apart, forming a channel in which the edge portion of the blindoperates with substantial clearance and in the preferred form of the 26overlap the sides ll of invention the inner or opposed sides 35 of theears are convex in form and thus effectively guide the edge portion ofthe blind, in the event .that the blind is operated when deflected froma true vertical position. A mounting flange or base 38 carries orprojects from the shoe 30. In the case illustrated the flange 38 isdisposed relative to the shoe 30 so that it bears against the face ofside ll of the case A while holding the shoe 30 properly related to theedge of the blind 22, as clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawings.In practice any suitable means may be employed to secure the flange 38to the case. In the drawings I have shown openings 40 in the flange 38carrying mounting screws 4|.

In accordance with the preferred form of the invention each guide C ashereinabove described is a single unitary element, for instance, it maybe a casting, and it is of such form that it can be advantageouslymanufactured in quantities and'at little cost. Furthermore, it is to beobserved that-the guide or unit that I have provided is simple in actionand is such that it can be easily and quickly mounted so it is relatedto a blind, as shown throughout the drawings. I

In the form of the invention shown in Figs. 5, 6 and 7 the blind Binstead of being mounted on'the exterior of the case A is mounted withinthe case at the upper end thereof to be adjacent to header l2. In thiscase guides C' provided by the present invention, instead of beingmounted on the exterior of the sides H, as shown in Figs. 1 to 4,inclusive, are mounted-at the interior of the case. In this situationeach guide C may be advantageously formed with two mounting flanges 38',one projecting upwardly and the other downwardly, and each of theseflanges may have a screw hole, as shown in Fig. '7 of the drawings.

Inother respects,'that is, as to the formation of the shoe and ears,this form of. guide may be the same as that first described.

In installing the guides c of the present invention a short distance,that is, a matter of a few inches, below the roller 20, they areinconspicuous and are so located that they do not in any wayinconvenience a user. The guides being located as shown in the drawingsserve to effectively guide the blind onto the roller and the defiectionsof the blind incidental to usual operation are corrected trally onto theroller. With the guides of the present invention, a usual blind can beoperated without great care or skill over a long period of time withoutthe edges of the blind becoming worn or chafed, as is usually the case.

Havingdescribed only typical preferred forms and applications of myinvention, I do not wish to be limited or restricted to the specificdetails herein set forth, but wish to reserve to myself any variationsor modifications that may appear to those skilled in'the art and fallwithin the scope of the following claims.

:Having described my invention, 1 claim:

1. A blind guide applicable to a window case and engaged by'a blindmounted at the case ineluding, a unit having a guide shoe with a convexface opposing and guiding an edge of the blind, ears projecting from theshoe and toward the blind and spaced apart to receive an edge portion ofthe blind between them, and a mounting supporting the shoe in fixedposition on the case, the said face .of the shoe being pitched anddefining an upwardly converging space in which the blind operates.

2. A guide applicable to a window case to guide a blind at the windowincluding, a guide shoe, spaced opposed ears projecting from oppositeedges of the shoe, and a mounting carrying the shoe and applicable tothe case tosupport the shoe in fixed position with an edge of the blindguided by the shoe and confined between the ears, the shoe having aconvex face opposing the edge of the blind.

3. A unitary guide applicable to a window case to guide a blindincluding, a guide shoe with a convex guide face at the front thereof,ears fixed at opposite edges of the shoe and projecting from the saidface and having opposed convex blind guiding faces, and a mountingflange projecting from the rear of the shoe applicable to the case tosupport the shoe with the blind between the ears and guided by the saidears and face of the shoe.

4. A unitary guide applicable to a window case to guide a blind at thewindow including, a guide shoe, spaced ears projectingfrom oppositeedges of the shoe, and a mounting carrying the shoe and applicable tothe case'to support the shoe in fixed position with an edge of the blindguided by the .shoeand confined between the ears, the shoe having aconvex face opposing the edge of the blind and upwardly inclined so thatits uppermost .portionclosely approaches the blind and the ears havingopposed convex faces and rounded outer ends. i

4 I LEE NELSON.

REFERENCES, crrlsnv The following references are of record in the fileof this patent:

and the blind is led or fed cen-'

